Found this online, interesting read from almost 10 years ago.
"Driving the Contour SVT at Bob Bondurant's School of High Performance Driving
Photos courtesy of Ford SVT
Ford SVT and Bob Bondurant have a short history together, but the relationship is advancing quickly. Ford Motor Company has been supplying Bondurant's famed driving school with cars for 15 years, and starting in 1996 the SVT team began donating Mustang Cobras to the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving for use in advanced road racing courses.
Until now, Bondurant instructors have piloted second-generation Taurus SHOs (you know, the model just before Ford screwed that car up big time), and even a couple of specially-modified SHO-powered Mercury Sables. But those aging 1995 models are ready to retire. Enter SVT with brand-spankin' new Contour SVT instructor cars.
Understandably, the Contour SVTs operated by the Bondurant school are somewhat modified from their street-legal brethren, but they retain the same powertrain, brakes and tires as the car that can be bought in a showroom. Some of the major changes to the Bondurant car include yellow paint, a full roll cage, a slightly lighter flywheel, a K&N air cleaner, a true dual exhaust system with Walker Dynomax mufflers and no catalysts, oil-to-air oil coolers, relocated upper front struts, revised Eibach coil springs and rates, unique Monroe struts at all four corners, increased caster and camber, a racing-approved fuel cell nestled into the spare tire well under the trunk floor, a relocated battery for better weight distribution and a fire suppression system.
Ford SVT and Bob Bondurant invited us to drive the new Contour SVT instructor cars at the school, which is located due south of Phoenix just west of I-10. Without gloating about what a great time we had zooming around the 1.6-mile road course in both the Contour SVT instructor cars and the Mustang Cobra student cars, we can say that the Contour was more fun on the track than the Mustang.
Huh? You heard that one correctly. We enjoyed running the brilliant yellow Contours around the Bondurant track more than the bright orange Cobras. First, there was more interior room for a large man wearing a helmet. Second, Roush Industries (which turns a production Contour SVT into the Bondurant instructor car) has done a phenomenal job of integrating the roll cage into the Contour's interior. You can't see it because it's embedded as much as possible into the unibody structure of the car. In contrast, the Mustang's A-pillars are doubled in size thanks to the exposed roll cage. As a result, crucial visibility suffers.
Greater comfort and visibility make for speed and fun, and the Contour SVT came through. The instructor cars are remarkably well balanced, and we felt they gripped the track better than the heavier Cobras. Heading into a turn too hot was no problem. By trail braking a bit harder than one normally would, the rear of the Contour would break the tiniest bit loose and get the nose of the front-wheel drive car pointed in the right direction. Then full throttle would pull the car through the turn and onto the next straight. The only handling characteristic that could possibly be improved in the track version of the Contour SVT is the bit of suspension float we felt flying over the hill on Bondurant's road course. But I suppose when zooming along at nearly triple digit speeds in a four-door sedan, that kind of behavior is to be expected.
Does our preference translate to the street editions of the SVT Cobra and Contour? Not really, because we enjoy the cars on public roads equally and for different reasons, particularly the Cobra Convertible. The Contour appeals to our family-oriented daily driver mentality while the Cobra is more of a weekend toy for canyon carving. But for hot laps at the Bondurant school, give us the keys to the Roush-prepped Contour SVT."
The rest is here...
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FirstDrives/articleId=43945
"Driving the Contour SVT at Bob Bondurant's School of High Performance Driving
Photos courtesy of Ford SVT
Ford SVT and Bob Bondurant have a short history together, but the relationship is advancing quickly. Ford Motor Company has been supplying Bondurant's famed driving school with cars for 15 years, and starting in 1996 the SVT team began donating Mustang Cobras to the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving for use in advanced road racing courses.
Until now, Bondurant instructors have piloted second-generation Taurus SHOs (you know, the model just before Ford screwed that car up big time), and even a couple of specially-modified SHO-powered Mercury Sables. But those aging 1995 models are ready to retire. Enter SVT with brand-spankin' new Contour SVT instructor cars.
Understandably, the Contour SVTs operated by the Bondurant school are somewhat modified from their street-legal brethren, but they retain the same powertrain, brakes and tires as the car that can be bought in a showroom. Some of the major changes to the Bondurant car include yellow paint, a full roll cage, a slightly lighter flywheel, a K&N air cleaner, a true dual exhaust system with Walker Dynomax mufflers and no catalysts, oil-to-air oil coolers, relocated upper front struts, revised Eibach coil springs and rates, unique Monroe struts at all four corners, increased caster and camber, a racing-approved fuel cell nestled into the spare tire well under the trunk floor, a relocated battery for better weight distribution and a fire suppression system.
Ford SVT and Bob Bondurant invited us to drive the new Contour SVT instructor cars at the school, which is located due south of Phoenix just west of I-10. Without gloating about what a great time we had zooming around the 1.6-mile road course in both the Contour SVT instructor cars and the Mustang Cobra student cars, we can say that the Contour was more fun on the track than the Mustang.
Huh? You heard that one correctly. We enjoyed running the brilliant yellow Contours around the Bondurant track more than the bright orange Cobras. First, there was more interior room for a large man wearing a helmet. Second, Roush Industries (which turns a production Contour SVT into the Bondurant instructor car) has done a phenomenal job of integrating the roll cage into the Contour's interior. You can't see it because it's embedded as much as possible into the unibody structure of the car. In contrast, the Mustang's A-pillars are doubled in size thanks to the exposed roll cage. As a result, crucial visibility suffers.
Greater comfort and visibility make for speed and fun, and the Contour SVT came through. The instructor cars are remarkably well balanced, and we felt they gripped the track better than the heavier Cobras. Heading into a turn too hot was no problem. By trail braking a bit harder than one normally would, the rear of the Contour would break the tiniest bit loose and get the nose of the front-wheel drive car pointed in the right direction. Then full throttle would pull the car through the turn and onto the next straight. The only handling characteristic that could possibly be improved in the track version of the Contour SVT is the bit of suspension float we felt flying over the hill on Bondurant's road course. But I suppose when zooming along at nearly triple digit speeds in a four-door sedan, that kind of behavior is to be expected.
Does our preference translate to the street editions of the SVT Cobra and Contour? Not really, because we enjoy the cars on public roads equally and for different reasons, particularly the Cobra Convertible. The Contour appeals to our family-oriented daily driver mentality while the Cobra is more of a weekend toy for canyon carving. But for hot laps at the Bondurant school, give us the keys to the Roush-prepped Contour SVT."
The rest is here...
http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/FirstDrives/articleId=43945
